Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The First Dirty Dozen
    The First Dirty Dozen
    The First Dirty Dozen
    Ebook290 pages1 hour

    The First Dirty Dozen

    By Brock Zeman

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    For over 15 years, Canadian singer-songwriter Brock Zeman has traveled all over North America and beyond, playing almost 200 dates a year in venues large and small, satisfying his loyal fans and making new ones wherever he goes. Zeman delivers his hard-hitting songs with exceptional passion and skill. Poignant, driving, irreverent or humorous (sometimes all of the above), his songs tell us stories that leap from the stage right into our hearts.

    Collected here for the first time are the lyrics from his first 12 albums. These songs jump off the page as easily as they do the stage - you just can't hold a good storyteller down.

    "Not many people can do what Brock Zeman does… These are good songs - really good songs."

    - Frank Gutch Jr., No Depression

    "His songs have more depth than can be realized first time through, which only enhances with each listen."

    - Steve Tennant, Penguin Eggs

    "He's a storyteller, an observer who sings real-life struggles about characters you care about."

    - Bob Mersereaux, The Top 100 Canadian Singles

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrock Zeman
    Release dateMar 13, 2018
    ISBN9781775306917
    The First Dirty Dozen

    Related to The First Dirty Dozen

    Related ebooks

    Music For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Metal Gods

      Jul 20, 2021

      Metal Gods
      14 min read

    • Article

      David Harewood

      Mar 20, 2023

      David Harewood
      5 min read

    • Article

      Midge Ure

      Jul 24, 2023

      Midge Ure
      6 min read

    • Article

      Robert Plant

      Nov 12, 2019

      Robert Plant
      16 min read

    • Article

      Powder Nexus

      Aug 19, 2016

      Powder Nexus
      10 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Say

      Oct 7, 2022

      I magine a sticky, early August morning, around three o’clock. It is dark, the moon blocked by clouds, no streetlights, a siren in the distance, medics running to a heart attack. Imagine a man out on a bike or walking a sick dog, or maybe a woman who

      10 min read

    • Article

      Protomartyr

      Jul 13, 2023

      Story And Songs From Robin Hood DISNEYLAND, 1973 This was the first record I was obsessed with. I can still vividly remember being five or six and lying down in front of our green and blue polka dot record player and lifting the needle to hear “Whist

      4 min read

    • Article

      Robyn Hitchcock

      Oct 13, 2022

      Robyn Hitchcock
      7 min read

    • Article

      Blue Boy

      Apr 8, 2019

      Blue Boy
      10 min read

    • Article

      Joel O’keeffe

      Dec 5, 2019

      AIRBOURNE WENT BACK to basics for new album Boneshaker, flying to Nashville to record a stripped-back, rough and ready new album with famed country producer Dave Cobb. It was the latest learning curve in a career packed full of them, so naturally, we

      5 min read

    • Article

      Toronzo Cannon

      Oct 18, 2019

      While some blues guitarists fill their songs with fictional tales of whiskey and women – then go backstage and drink Perrier – Toronzo Cannon draws his inspiration straight from the streets of Chicago. The city that gave voice to Muddy Waters, Buddy

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Last Waylon Party

      Jan 18, 2019

      The Last Waylon Party
      14 min read

    • Article

      Dom Martin

      Sep 16, 2022

      Dom Martin
      6 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Gene Simmons

      Apr 1, 2022

      EVERYBODY KNOWS GENE Simmons. Or at least, they think they know Gene Simmons. Kiss co-founder, blood-dribbler, tongue-waggler and possessor of one of rock’s biggest egos. But long before he became The Demon, he was Chaim Witz, a kid born in Israel an

      5 min read

    • Article

      Lawrence

      Dec 8, 2022

      Lawrence
      6 min read

    • Article

      Push Play

      Apr 6, 2020

      Push Play
      7 min read

    • Article

      The End (of The Beginning)

      Sep 15, 2022

      The End (of The Beginning)
      11 min read

    • Article

      What's The Meaning Of Life? Ask Protomartyr

      Sep 29, 2017

      Protomartyr lead singer and lyricist Joe Casey walks us through some of the thorny questions behind the band's new album, Relatives In Decent, track by track.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Watch Your Step

      Nov 19, 2020

      Watch Your Step
      5 min read

    • Article

      Peyton Burgess

      Mar 9, 2021

      Sometimes PB to my students, Sack to my friends, and always Pete to my family, my name is Peter Burgundy and I worry that death has been my only inspiration to be a better person—that death has had a way of making life understandable. And oh whoa, ho

      30 min read

    • Article

      Getaway Driver

      Feb 10, 2022

      Getaway Driver
      11 min read

    • Article

      Glen Matlock

      Jan 30, 2023

      Glen Matlock
      6 min read

    • Article

      In The Spotlight: Your Writing Unreliable Narrator

      Jan 4, 2024

      We weren’t a bit surprised that we had our smallest postbag yet for the call for submissions on the theme of Unreliable Narrator, inspired by the brilliant article by Taboo co-creator Chips Hardy in the December issue. It’s a challenging theme – it’s

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The First Dirty Dozen

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The First Dirty Dozen - Brock Zeman

      The First Dirty Dozen

      The First Dirty Dozen

      Brock Zeman

      Brock Zeman

      Brock Zeman

      www.brockzeman.com

      Copyright © 2018 Brock Zeman

      Cover photo by Domenic Cicala.

      Cover and book design by Triskell Press (Charles de Lint & MaryAnn Harris).

      Album cover credits: Blair Olson, Rick Klaver, Matt Pelletier, and Jamie Kronick.

      eISBN 978-1-7753069-1-7 

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

      Special thanks to​:​ my wonderful family (Ted, Donna, Lindsay, Ryan and Natalie); Blair Hogan, ​Dylan Roberts, ​Crocket and Deb, Steve Purtelle, Steve Foley, Mark Logan, Mark Jungers, the Stos Boys, the Waytowich Clan, Mary Sack​; all the musicians and bands I've played with over the years​; Charles and MaryAnn for helping with this book​; and all of the angels I've met out on the road. You're too many to mention but you know who you are and I'm lucky to know you.

      Contents

      I. Cold Winter Comes Back

      Dust

      Mississippi River

      Ridin’ on the Rims

      Billy and Me

      Sink Like a Stone

      Jefferson County

      William P. Rambler

      Dragged Through the Dirt

      Gastown

      Bonnie and Clyde

      II. Songs from the Mud

      Fifty-dollar Bill

      Scarecrow Blues

      Dear Father

      Soldier’s Prayer

      Tires on the Gravel

      Caroline

      Darcy Plunkett

      The Sun Went Out

      Holler Out

      Guitar Fool

      Sitting in Hock

      The Mason Gang

      Mary-Anne O’ Toole

      III. The Dirty Hands

      Nothing on the Radio

      Sweet Charlotte

      Down by the River

      Two Steps Back

      Amanda

      My Heaven

      Raise Your Hands

      Danny’s Song

      Small Town Tongues

      Blood of Christ Blues

      Breanna Harrison

      Bones

      Another Song

      Talking Reality Show Blues

      IV. Welcome Home Ivy Jane

      Better Half

      In Days Ahead

      Since You’ve Been Gone

      Boxcars

      Storm’s A-comin’

      Ten Dollars and a Dime

      The Greasy Skillet Boys

      Porch Light

      A Different Kind of Ground

      Saturday Night

      Whistle While I Clean My Gun

      Down in the Basement

      Cindy

      Chanelle

      V. The Bourbon Sessions

      Blood on the Hardwood Floor

      Lordy Lord

      Silver and Gold

      Places to Fall

      Call It Even

      Rock Fence

      Don’t Tell Jimmy

      Invisible Line

      Something’s Gonna Crack

      Train in Me

      Spend the Night

      VI. $100 Difference

      Picture of You

      Ain’t Nothing

      Ten-day Rut

      Length of Your Chain

      Plain Wild

      Girl with a Gun

      Killer in the Corn

      Moccasin Road

      Keep Moving

      All These Roads

      Once Upon a Saturday Night

      VII. Live At The Acoustic Grill

      Ain’t No Grave

      Wintertime in Ontario

      Oh Me, Oh My

      Last $20 Blues

      A Song to a Girl

      Put Your Foot Down

      Closing Time

      VIII. Ya Ain’t Crazy Henny Penny

      Life Is Good

      Where You Leave Your Car

      Somebody’s Comin’

      Percy’s Daughter

      Never Step on a Train

      Dust and Dirt

      Gone

      End of the Tunnel

      Ya Ain’t Crazy Henny Penny

      IX. Me Then You

      Push Them Stones

      Until it Bleeds

      Triple Crown

      Someone for You

      Light in the Attic

      Claws

      End of the World

      Season of Sleep

      Rain on the Roof #1

      Rain on the Roof #2

      X. Rotten Tooth

      Rotten Tooth

      Day Before Tomorrow

      Don’t Forget to Grow Old

      Chicken Bones

      I’m Going Fishing

      The Dreamland Motel

      Sending Strange Weather

      Where Words Mean Nothing at All

      Ever Since You Left Town

      There Will Always Be a Right Now

      XI. Pulling Your Sword Out of the Devil’s Back

      Pulling Your Sword Out of the Devil’s Back

      Walking in the Dark

      Sweat

      Don’t Think About You Anymore

      Some Things Stay

      10 Year Fight

      Drop Your Bucket

      Little Details

      Dead Man’s Shoes

      Everybody Loves Elvis

      XII. The Carnival Is Back in Town

      The Carnival Is Back in Town

      Hammer Them Stakes Down

      Stitch

      Come One, Come All

      The Juggler

      Buckshot Sadie

      Dirty Little Secrets

      Little Mac

      Freak Show

      Percy Jones

      Drinks the Clown

      Closer to God

      The Moon Ain’t Full

      The Carnival Has Left Town

      Mailing list

      About the Author

      Album I

      Cold Winter Comes Back

      Cold Winter Comes Back cover

      Dust

      Imissed my bus at the London station

      I had to take the milk run at two hours’ difference

      I took a seat beside an old man, he was drinking red wine

      He said, I got you a drink son if you’ve got the time

      I’ve been gone awhile; I’ve thumbed my way across the country wide

      Cold shoulders and road signs, they were my only friends

      I thumbed across that prairie stretch in a cherry-red Corvette

      I slept beside the railroad tracks back in Thunder Bay

      I played hide-and-seek with the sun; I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun

      I even slept in the jailhouse some back in the month of May

      Picket fences always looked like bones to me, so I rambled far and free

      Time to put this soul to sleep; this old dog has had his day

      And high on the horizon I see these words across the sky:

      Everything turns to dust by and by

      I’ve run from the cold and I’ve played with fire, I sang bass in a hobo choir

      To the melody of screaming tires, Lord, don’t I love that sound

      I’ve talked to God and held the Devil’s hand, I slept down in the mud and the sand

      Regrets just ain’t my style man, they’re too heavy to lug around

      Sometimes I get to thinking about all the things I’ve been missing out

      Lord, I wished I’d’ve settled down and maybe bought some land

      It gets me feeling some kinda low when a north wind howls so

      But then I hear a lonesome train whistle blow and Lord here I go again

      The old man hunched low in his seat, let out a breath slow and deep

      His eyes bowed down with sleep, he just kinda trailed off

      I saw the lights of my hometown, the bus broke and slowed right down

      The old man was still sleeping sound when I hit my stop

      Mississippi River

      The summer was waving a cold winter goodbye

      The river was flowing all fast and high

      She had enough of small towns, wanted something new

      And she left me standing by the Mississippi River

      Not a year goes by when that river don’t bite

      You always read in the paper about it taking some lives

      When the water is high you best stand clear

      Even the Mississippi River couldn’t hold her here

      When the snow starts falling, the cold winter comes back

      I’ll walk out on that river till the ice all cracks

      And I’ll let it take me to where the skies are blue

      Maybe the Mississippi River will lead me back to you

      I miss you darling, I guess I always will

      But asking you to come home is like asking that river to stand still

      Ridin’ on the Rims

      Manitoba, you best get out of my way

      ’Cause I’m gonna tear across these prairies like a jailbreak

      And Alberta, I just can’t slow her down

      And I ain’t got no time for talking but I’m sure I’ll see you around

      Should my tires blow, then I’ll just ride on the rims

      There ain’t nothing gonna keep me from seeing my baby again

      No, nothing’s gonna slow me down

      Come snow or sleet or rain

      I can make it by tomorrow

      If I just drive through today

      Honey, I’ll make it by tomorrow

      If I just drive through today

      I quit my job and set this car on the road

      For a pair of dark brown eyes and a heart of gold

      All those back roads, don’t matter what the DJ plays

      Just ain’t the same without my baby sitting there next to me

      Hell, I can almost hear her singing Dylan songs out of tune

      Now Rainy Day Woman never fails to leave me blue

      Billy and Me

      My brother Billy and me, we grew up side by side

      Whenever you saw one of us out you knew the other wasn’t far behind

      And when the fists would fly on Main Street we were always first on the scene

      No, we weren’t afraid of nothing, Billy and me

      I came of age and grew restless and hit out on the road

      I was young and green and did not know what I was searching for

      But it was clear to me if I stayed behind I’d only find discontent

      And when you’re palming around in the dark it’s easy to find the Devil’s hand

      Before I left I told Billy to get out while he could

      ’Cause one day you’ll wake and you’ll look in the mirror and see an old man staring at you

      And every time you put off something, the weaker your wings will get

      Till you finally find yourself holding on to a box of old regrets

      And Idle hands are the Devil’s playthings, ain’t that what they say

      Billy stayed behind only to find himself deeper every day

      He started hanging around with that Tommy Brown, I always said the boy had a forked tongue

      Billy shot his future into his veins and let the Devil swim into his blood

      It’s kinda funny, I suppose

      You can never help the ones that you hold close

      And all the people that you love

      They’re the ones that’ll hurt you most

      I found a girl and I settled down 500 miles from my home

      In a little shack with a river out back at the end of a county road

      One day I called my mama, she said she hadn’t heard from Billy in days

      But no cause for worry now son, you hear, just find it a little strange

      Well a week went

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1